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Worshiping Across Borders Begins With Global Vision Week

Global Vision Week imparts God's passion for the world to the hearts of Life Pacific students.

Global Vision Week always inspires. An annual tradition at Life Pacific, Global Vision Week helps students catch God’s heart for the world. This fall, however, one particular moment topped them all.

During a Global Life Week chapel, our entire Life Pacific community sang a song together in five different languages. What a moment!

The presence of the Holy Spirit was tangible as the multilingual expression of praise filled the air – reminding me of the Apostle John’s vision of the mass choir surrounding the throne of God in The Book of Revelation. To say it was a moving experience is indeed an understatement. Tears flowed and hearts were stirred by the experience. You should have been there.

Worshipping across borders reflects God’s plan for Life Pacific in becoming a global university in which we serve students representing some 17 distinct language groups on our campus this fall. That does not count those in our community who speak a second or third language – bringing the number of languages on campus to 21!

In every language, one thing is certain: Life Pacific students gain a God-sized vision for serving wherever He calls them to go.

Last year, 87 from our Life Pacific community immersed themselves in global life experiences. More than double that number have already indicated interest in serving globally during this school year.

For some that involves business as mission opportunities, serving needy communities, helping build ministries, or doing relief work. At the helm of Life Pacific’s Global Life program this year is Aimee Selby, visiting professor and interim director of Global Life.

Aimee believes Global Life lies at the intersection of all her passions: students, culture, experiential training and mobilization, and the field. Her skillful, winsome, inspired approach to Global Life is contagious among our students and it is no surprise to me that so many students are ready to invest themselves in God’s plan to reach the world.

Another advantage for Life Pacific students is the nearly 100-year partnership we enjoy with Foursquare Missions International (FMI).

Our global Foursquare Network means that we already have global workers in every country students want to visit. We are not dependent on a travel company or “group tours,” but rather, we connect our students with embedded FMI workers in the field for firsthand experience in the student’s area of study.

Our chapel speaker during Global Vision Week this year was FMI Area Missionary Sam Johnson who oversees works and workers in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. These areas involve significant security risks and testimonies from the region often cannot be shared in public forums.

As Sam spoke about his experiences, we turned off the live stream and asked everyone not to post photos or videos of his message on social media. This was not for dramatic effect. There is real danger today in some parts of the world for presenting the truth. Still, God calls our students to get involved – sometimes in dangerous places.

We are thankful for seasoned ministry veterans like Sam and other FMI leaders like him around the world who calculate the risk, lean into the Holy Spirit, and answer God’s call.

Sam’s extensive knowledge of the cultures, regions, and people he serves is truly an inspiration for everyone who knows him. And, just think, our students get to listen to Sam, rub elbows with him, and interact on a first-name basis with him as they discover God’s direction for their lives.

It’s true that Global Vision Week inspires. More, Global Vision Week at Life Pacific College stirs people to get involved with the world, to apply their learning in ways that serve the needs of others, and to answer God’s call to go wherever He leads.